Electronic commerce has established itself as a lasting and important component in the modern economy. For continued and long-term success, electronic commerce will require cross-enterprise collaborations among disparate resources including enterprise applications. To achieve cross-enterprise integration, a company must first integrate internal applications. To date, an integration solution that is easy to use, affordable, and based on industry wide standards has not been successfully established. No solution achieving an industry standard infrastructure with universal connectivity, massive scalability, and incorporating accessible business process tools has been developed.
Many companies have a need for platform solutions capable of fully integrating internal business processes that include multiple internal applications. These same companies also have a need for platform solutions capable of integrating internal applications with external services and applications including external business-to-consumer and business-to-business applications, such as applications that can utilize the Internet to generate revenue and reduce costs. The requirement for Internet-enabled applications has led to the rise of the application server market. To date, application servers have primarily been used to host external applications targeted at customers and partners. Application servers are themselves packaged applications that, instead of solving a specific problem, are general-purpose platforms that host vertical solutions.
Furthermore, many companies need an efficient solution for providing targeted presentations to consumers, partners, and employees in the form of user friendly interfaces. Integrating these interfaces with existing and future internal and external applications can further complicate attempts at successful, efficient, and reliable fully integrated business solutions.